We're Just Friends... Right?
by Gooey Gooey Coca Beans
Summary: PG-13, just to be safe. Lily and James are best friends and everybody thinks that they're going out. But they're not, they don't even like each other like *that*... Right?
1. The Train

We're Just Friends… Right? --- Chapter One

"Peter!" The small chubby boy looked at her with wide, frightened eyes. He visibly relaxed when he realized that it was just Lily. When she reached him, she gave him a giant hug – having to bend down a little.

Peter was short and a little overweight. He had ice blue eyes and short blond hair. He always seemed to be paranoid and worried about something. He hardly ever hung out with anybody but his fellow Marauders and Lily.

Peter quickly realized that people were looking at Lily and him. "Uhhh, Lily? Could you… Stop hugging me?"

"You think too much of what others think" she said with a sigh. Nevertheless, she pulled away. 

Lily was average height for a girl, she had dark red wavy hair that went just past her shoulder blades. Her emerald eyes had a sparkle to them that could make people smile. She had a milky complexion with a light dusting of freckles across the bridge of her nose, spreading to her cheeks. She loved to smile and joke around, partly why she got along so well with the Marauders. She wasn't the most popular girl in school, but she wasn't a geek either. 

"Have you seen–"

Before she could finish, she was lifted off the ground in a giant bear hug.

"Sirius… Sirius… Can't… Breath."

"Sorry, Lils. I just haven't seen you all summer!"

Lily smiled, "I missed you too." Standing on tiptoes she gave Sirius a big hug.

"I feel left out."

Lily's smile widened, "Remus!"

Remus gave Lily a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. 

"Missed you bunches, Lil."

Remus and Sirius were almost opposites. Remus was five foot, seven inches, just an inch or two taller than Lily. He had sandy blond hair and gray eyes. He was like the voice of reason within the group, but had the sense of humor needed to exist within the group of Marauders. Sirius on the other hand, was about six foot five, taller than any other boy in their sixth year. His hair was such a dark brown that it looked black, and it was spiked. His eyes were dark brown and filled with mischief and were curious. He seemed to be the one that came up with the most pranks, and he always had a smile on his face. He was the one that cheered everybody else up. Both he and Remus were well built, but had a softness to them that made them some of the most sought after boys in school.

Sirius was jumping around, excited. He didn't know what to do, so he went over to Lily, picked her up, threw her over her shoulder, and went to find James.

"Sirius! Sirius, put me down! Sirius! Black, I'm gonna kill you when you put me down."

"All the better reason not to put you down, Lils."

Lily just sighed and stopped struggling. She rested her elbow on Sirius' back and then her head in her palm. Remus and Peter were walking closely behind, smirks on their faces. She stuck her tongue out at them.

"Geez, Sirius, are you so desperate for a girl you took _Evens_?"

Sirius shifted Lily so she was now cradled in his arms like a newlywed. Lily was grinning ear to ear, they had gone through similar games since they got to know each other in first year.

"For your information, James," Sirius pulled Lily closer, "I'm in love with her. And we're going to get married, and live happily ever after."

James grinned, "Well, if you're forced to take _that_, then I guess I should congratulate you. Say, can I be Godfather?"

Lily laughed and got down out of Sirius' arms. She went over and gave James a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. As she did, many of James' fans gave her a murderous look, but she didn't notice. She had learned to ignore the jealous stares of girls that were 'in love' with her friend.

James was six feet tall, he had startling blue eyes behind black wire rimmed glasses. He had messy black hair that couldn't be tamed no matter the amount of mouse or hair brushing he used. He was like the leader of the group, equally balanced between the prankster, the voice of reason, the brains, and the worrywart. Of course, he didn't tell everybody this, but his friends could read his emotions well can could tell what mood he was in. James was well built from being seeker on the Quidditch team the past few years.

"Lets get our stuff to the train." James suggested.

They went and got their trunks and found a compartment to store them in. They all sat down and started to joke around, telling each other what they did during the summer vacation.

Just as Peter started to tell about a joke he played on his sister, Snape walked in.

The Marauders, plus Lily, all stopped talking and gave Snape a cold look. In fifth year Snape had wanted Lily to go to the Yule Ball with him, but she declined. He got very upset and had grabbed her arm and hit her. She had decided not to fix the bruises, she thought that hiding them showed weakness, and she refused to be weak.

"Why hello Lily, dearest." Snape let his words slip out of his mouth. 

"Get away from me, Snape."

"Tisk, tisk. Did you not learn your lesson last time, or do I have to give you another?

Lily sprang up our of her seat, murder in her eyes, bur Remus held her back. "Lily, he's not worth it." He said it just loud enough for her to hear, nobody else.

"Remus, let me go!"

Remus just tightened his grip, knowing that if he loosened up at all Lily would beat Snape so bad he'd need to go to the nurse's before they got to the castle.

"What's the matter, mudblood? Afraid I'll hurt you?"

Before Lily's vision could even turn the proper shade of red, James and Sirius had sprung up and started to punch Snape. Peter was enchanting the door behind him and finished just in time. As soon as Snape was pushed out the door, his shirt turned lime green with pink polka dots and his jeans turned into a neon yellow skirt. Any time he opened his mouth, his breath smelled like a combination of onions, garlic, and sour milk. Snape shrieked like a girl – _not_ because of the curse – and ran off to the safety of his fellow Slytherins.

Lily dropped down into her seat and folded her arms over her chest. Her pretty face was scowled in anger and her emerald eyes were narrowed to a point.

James walked over and sat down beside her. "Lily…" He tried to put his arm on her shoulder.

"Get away from me, Potter." She scooted over to the window and stared at nothing.

James looked at his friends, pleading. Sirius got up and hugged Lily, at first she tried to push away, but she relaxed and hugged him back.

"GROUP HUG!" Yelled Peter. The Marauders huddled around Lily and gave her words of encouragement and pats on the back.

She eventually fell asleep with her head on Remus' shoulder and her feet on Peter's lap.

A/N: Ahhhh! That was short and sucky, and I'm sorry! I'm trying to get over writers block… Depending on if I come up with anything better, if people actually like this, and if I get over my writers block or not I may or may not continue this story. 


	2. The Sorting Feast

A giant castle loomed over Lily. She was sitting in a horseless carriage between Remus and Sirius. Across from them was Peter, James, and James' current girlfriend, Jessica.

Jessica was a sixth year Hufflepuff. She was short and looked like a child standing next to her six foot boyfriend. She had irresistible baby blue eyes and long blond hair. She loved to talk and could be very overwhelming. The only reason the others put up with her was because she was James' girlfriend. He was oblivious to the fact that the others didn't like her.

As they got out of the carriage, Remus – forever the gentleman – offered Lily his hand and walked her to the Great Hall. James on the other hand, didn't help Jessica at all. He hardly even registered she was there. He walked to the Hall, closely behind Remus and Lily, laughing and joking around with peter and Sirius. Peter let a little smile escape at Jessica's angry glares at James.

As they entered the Great hall, they stared at the decorations in awe. Every one of the House colors were around the room, causing it to look like fireworks of streamers and confetti had been let loose in their dining area. There was a giant banner reading "Welcome Back Hogwarts!" It was flashing between the colors gold, silver, and bronze.

"James," he broke out of his trance long enough to look at his girlfriend, "I've got to go. Hufflepuffs await."

"Oh, OK" he answered, not really caring.

Jessica sulked away to her table, occasionally glaring at James.

"James," Peter was laughing at his friend, "you just totally blew the girl off!"

"I did?" His friends nodded. "Well, I was going to break up with her anyway, she's too superficial."

"Ooo, vocab word!"

"Shut up, Sirius."

Lily hooked arms with James and led him slowly to their table, "Normally I would call you a womanizing pig about your little Jess comment. But I'm willing to make an exception on her case."

He laughed and held her close, some people who didn't know them will enough might have thought that they were about to kiss passionately. "Well, Lillian, the only reason I stuck with her for so long was to make you incredibly jealous and insane with anger."

"Oh." She pulled out of his grip, "Didn't work a bit." She sauntered over to Sirius, in a mock sexy manner, and sat close to him. James saw him put his arm over her shoulders and then sighed and went over and awaited the sorting.

After the sorting, Dumbledore stood up to give a speech.

"Oh great, now we'll never get to eat." Said Peter sarcastically. Everybody around him snickered.

"I'd like to welcome the first years," everybody broke out in applause and the first years turned beet red, "Now to set some ground rules. The Forbidden Forest is, of course, forbidden. That means _nobody_" he cast an obvious glance at Sirius, "is allowed in unless accompanied by a Professor. Now, I would like to have everybody give a round of applause to this year's prefects! From Hufflepuff, Dianne Summers and Richard Simmons" (A/N We all knew there was something different about him!!! LOL, don't really know why I chose that name honestly…). There was a round of applause through out the hall. "From Ravenclaw, Karen York and Brian Matthews" Another round of applause. "From Slytheryn, Lucius Malfoy and Patricia Parkinson." This time there was just a polite applause and a few obvious coughs from the Gryffindor table. "And finally, from Gryffindor, we have James Potter and Lily Evans." A ruckus of hooting and hollering and a few cat calls came from the Gryffindor table.

Lily and James, though, hadn't realized they had been addressed and were wondering what was going on. Sirius started laughing and Dumbledore told them to stand up and take a bow. James, being an attention hog got up on the table and bowed, blowing kisses at pretty much any girl that looked his way. Lily stood up, took a bow, and tried to just sit down again, not comfortable with the cat calls that were obviously for her. 

But of course, James couldn't have that.

He bent down, pulled her up on the table, took one of her hands and rose it up over their heads – much like the winner of the Olympics would. Finally, they sat down. Once most of the attention was off of them, Lily smacked James in the chest.

"Lils! What was that for?"

"For making me feel like a fool in front of the entire school."

"You know you loved it."

Lily didn't say anything, but just glared at him. Well… she tried to glare at him, she could feel the tugs of a smile pulling at her lips.

Their back-to-school feast came and went pretty quickly, and relatively uneventful. After all, Malfoy getting up and doing the jitterbug on the Slytheryn table was a regular occurrence, right?

As James and Lily led the students up the many staircases, they delighted themselves in telling the younger students of the many horrors that awaited them this year – the students in their year were either laughing at them or trying to calm the younger ones down. They got to the portrait of the fat lady and gave the students the password – Fire's Eye – and gave them the 'grand tour' of the common room.

"Girl's room on the right, Guy's on the left" Lily said. (A/N is that right? Well, it is now…) "You'll find your luggage in your room, you'll find your room because your name, along with your dorm mates', will be on the door. Good night, you'll get you schedule at breakfast tomorrow."

With that, most of the Gryffindor population went upstairs to meet up with their roommates and go to bed.

"Geez, Lils, you could just talk the night away, couldn't you?"

Lily smiled, "Yes, Pete, I believe I could."

Lily gave all four of her friends a peck on the cheek and went up to bed. They could hear her voice softly telling them to have a good night.

James looked up at her retreating form, a little confused. Shaking his head, as if to clear it of thoughts, he climbed up the stairs to go to bed.

The other three soon followed, wishing classes didn't have to start the next day.

^*^*^*

OK, I want to apologize for those two notes that I put in there, I try to not put them in my stories, they're distracting. Well, I'm so sorry that it took so long to get this chapter out, I know what's going to happen, I just don't know how I'm going to get there…

I'd like to thank everybody who reviewed, it would take up too much room to thank everybody individually, sorry! But I do read each and every one of the reviews, believe me!

OH! I was wondering if anybody would possibly, for some reason, be interested in being my beta reader? Just to make sure I've spelled things correctly and that everything is constant in the story. I've read ones where James goes from being 6 feet, to close to 6 feet, to a towering 6 foot 5… I really don't want to become one of those stories. If anybody out here would be interested, please E-Mail me at iced_fire@earthlink.net with "Beta Reader" in the subject line. If you don't put that in the subject line, I'll probably just delete it.

OK, well, I'll try to get the next chapter out sooner. OK, well, *in surfer voice* catch ya' on the flip side, dude!

~~Gooey Gooey Coca Beans~~


	3. New Rooms and Malfoy in PINK!

A/N: I just wanted to apologize for the humongous gaps between chapters. I have been wanting to write this chapter for quite a while now, but because of school .::hisses::. I haven't been able too. Plus, for the past week I have been sick and I don't write well when I'm sick. OK, onto the story!

A/N 2: 10/20/02 Yeah Aunt Jemima! My wonderful new Beta Reader is here to save the day! Whoo hoo! So, here is the chapter that's gonna stick… I think…

We're Just Friends… Right? – Chapter Three

Lily and James were sitting in the Prefect's office, along with the other house prefects, listening to the Head Boy and Girl –Joshua Keenan and Katie Hulett – telling them of their responsibilities and throwing around ideas about what events they would be having this year.

"… Also, as of tonight you will all be assigned new dorms and you'll be moving in."

"What?" Said Brian, "I never heard anything about different dorms."

Josh spoke, "Don't worry, you'll still see your friends. Eat at your house tables and attend classes with them and such. You'll still be allowed into the common rooms, too. You'll just be living in a different dorm. Nothing to worry about."

"Anyway," came Katie's high pitched voice, "you eight will have to start planning the Halloween Ball. I suggest you get started on it soon."

James rolled his eyes at the mention of the dances. _Oh great_, he thought, _another excuse for the girls to fawn over me. God, they're annoying…_

Lily caught James' eye roll and smothered a giggle. He looked at her, one eyebrow raised in a questioning manner. She batted her eye lashes at him, imitating the girls she knew he was thinking about.

"Now, if you'll follow me, I'll show you to your dorm."

James got up first and then pulled the chair out for Lily. She looked at him, wondering if he was OK, but realized he was just getting her back for the eye battings when he tugged at her red mane.

The walk to the new dorm was full of playfully pushing, hair pulling, laughing, and strange looks from the rest of the group. 

The teens didn't really know where they were, except that it was somewhere in the middle of the castle, close to everything. The portrait was of a young woman and man. The man had chocolate colored hair and strange golden eyes. He wore a forest green tunic and tan colored pants. His boots were black leather that came halfway up his shins. The girl had strawberry blond hair that fell in tight curls down her back. She had sapphire eyes and milky white skin, like she hadn't seen the sun her entire life. Her Victorian style dress was a pastel blue, with the sleeves hanging off the shoulders. Their surroundings reminisced a courtyard, and a soft gray castle could be seen in the distance.

"What shall the password be, sire?" The woman asked Josh.

He thought for a moment, "Rubber bands."

"As you wish."

Lily raised an eyebrow at Josh, "Rubber bands?"

He turned a light shade of pink but smiled broadly. "I seem to have an infatuation with them." He held up his wrist which was covered in – you guesses it – rubber bands.

They both laughed, his deep booming ones contrasting nicely with Lily's light bell like ones. Josh offered his arm to Lily in a gentlemanly manner and she took it, following the others into the room.

James walked in behind the pair, a little ticked off that Josh was the one joking around with Lily, no longer himself.

Lily looked around her new common room with a smile on her face, everything seemed so cozy and made her felt at home. The walls were painted a soft, off white color and the trim was tan. The carpet was deep and plush, a deep manila color. There were four soft cowhide couches that would fit three of them comfortably. On both sides of all the couches were beautiful redwood side tables. Inside of the little half circle was a long redwood table with eight coasters and a glass bowl full of caramels, every flavor beans, and toffees. Then, there was a giant fireplace made of gray stone. There was a ledge in front of the fire that would allow you to sit there, if you wanted to. To the side of the fireplace was a small pile of birch wood to add when the fire was low. There were four doors around the circular common room, each door had the respective house crests.

Lily broke away from Josh, all but forgetting he was there, grabbed James and pulled him towards the Gryffindor door. 

There was a small amount of stairs and then they came across three doors. One had 'Lily Evans', the other had 'James Potter', both of which were written in beautiful golden calligraphy. And then there was one with 'Gryffindor Common Room' written on it.

Still smiling broadly, Lily threw open the door to her room and pulled James in.

With a Malfoy-worthy-smirk James said, "You just can't resist me, can you Lils? First night in our new rooms and you just can't keep your hands off me."

"Oh yes, James," she said in a monotone, "you make me hot."

He let out a lovely chuckle and tugged her hair playfully.

She hardly noticed, as she was too busy looking at her new room. It had the same color scheme as the common room, and had the same cozy home feeling. Her king sized four-poster bed had cream cotton sheets and a giant feather-down comforter. There were two bed side tables on either side of the bed, a lantern on both. She had a dresser, desk, vanity and a tan leather chair by the giant window. Lily opened one door, and saw a closet full of her clothing, shut it, and opened the other which revealed a bathroom.

James realized that he couldn't stop smiling at Lily. She was running around like a five year old on Christmas. He followed her and leaned against the door jam into the bathroom. The room was pure white, two sinks fit into the counter with enough room for toothbrushes, soap, cups, and other essentials. There was one shower and a giant tub that had Jacuzzi jets in it. The only things with color in the room were two deep brown doors. The one to Lily's room and – Lily opened the other –

"Hey James, this is your room!" She skipped into his room.

Shaking his head, he followed her to see her sitting cross-legged on his bed. A quick sweep across the room showed him that it was a perfect mirror to Lily's.

"Let's go see the guys, they'll be worried if we just disappear." He held his hand out to Lily.

"OK" She took his hand and jumped up from the bed.

He pulled her to the door, and into the Gryffindor common room. They burst through a portrait, surprising quite a few people.

Peter looked at them, "Where the bloody hell did you guys come from? I didn't know there was a secret passage into the common room…"

"There isn't Wormtail. Lils and I have new bedrooms. Figured we should tell you so you three don't get ideas when we don't show up at night anymore." He finished with a big grin on his face.

Remus smirked, "New bedrooms, eh? Mind if we see?"

"Sure." Lily led them into James' bedroom. With a game show girl type gesture she said, "And here is James' wonderful new dresser. And these," She opened the top drawer, "Are his M&M silk boxers." She held them up and wiggled her eyebrows.

Peter, Remus and Sirius roared with laughter, and James turned tomato red. He snatched them out of her hands and stuffed them back into the drawer. After slamming it shut, he turned to Lily, "Evens… Prepare to die."

With that James lunged at Lily and started to tickle her relentlessly. She was laughing uncontrollably and James' screaming of "Die! Die! Die!" didn't help her any.

"James… Don't!… Stop!"

He paused for a moment, "Don't stop? OK!" He tickled her again.

"Guys!… Help!"

Remus took a running leap and landed on James' back. 

"Dog-pile!" And then Peter jumped on Remus.

Sirius looked at them like they were high. Then he shouted in a high girly voice, "I'm a butterfly!" And landed on Peter.

Lily was, somehow, still laughing. "Guys… Can't… Breath… Dieing... Dieing…… Gone." With that she rolled her head to the side and stuck her tongue out in a very melodramatic death.

The Marauders each rolled off of each other, happy to be breathing again.

Suddenly the bedroom door swung open and a very angry looking Malfoy glared at them. "Do you freaks mind? Some of us are _trying_ to sleep!"

The boys all glared at him, and were about to start cursing him like there was no tomorrow, when Lily bursted out laughing all over again.

"What is so funny, Mudblood?"

The insult didn't even faze her. "You're wearing" She paused to snort, "PINK!"

Sure enough, tough, manly, don't take no crap from nobody Lucius Malfoy was wearing nothing but pink. Pink boxers, pink robe, even pink bunny slippers. His face turned to match his wardrobe. "My Mother says it brings out my eyes."

That just caused the five laying on the floor to just laugh harder than they ever had before. Suddenly Lily screamed, "Kodak moment!" And flashed a quick picture with a camera she had hidden somewhere in her robes.

Malfoy turned around and slammed the door muttering something about 'stupid Gryffindor freaks'. 

Every time one of the five would start to control themselves, they would just have to look at each other and start cracking up again. It took them all about fifteen minutes to finally calm down.

"Well," Remus said, "that was interesting…"


	4. Missing Lily

We're Just Friends… Right? – Chapter Three

Lily was in high spirits when she went to watch the first Gryffindor Quidditch practice. James was captain as well as Seeker. Remus was Chaser and Sirius a Beater. The other players on the team were Maxine Davis and Bret Andrews – Chasers, Christy Stokoe – Keeper, and Kyle Hall – Beater.

James had his team going over drills: The Chasers were practicing passing and scoring, Christy was trying to stop the Quaffle coming at her and the Beaters were practicing by hurling a Bludger between the two of them.

Grinning, Lily cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled, "Hey, Potter! You suck!"

The entire team recognized Lily's voice and waved to her. Content, Lily made her way onto the bleachers to watch them practice. She paid close attention to Kyle and Sirius; she was always fascinated by the position of Beater. It was defiantly dangerous, but looked like loads of fun.

Suddenly, like slow motion, the Bludger they were practicing with seemed to pick up speed and hit Kyle square in the chest.

Lily was running down the bleachers before he even fell off his broom. He landed with a sickening thud and Lily was at his side in seconds.

His breathing came in short, painful gasps and he appeared to have blacked out from pain.

James was the first to land, followed closely by Sirius.

"Is he okay?" They both asked frantically.

"I don't know, I need to get him to Madam Pomfrey's right away." She took out her wand and muttered _Strechara Securos_ and Kyle was floating behind her as she made a mad dash for the infirmary.

"Well… Uhhh… Practice canceled?" Remus and Sirius helped James put the equipment away before checking in on Kyle.

They met up with Lily, who was in the waiting room and not looking very happy about it. When she saw her friends, she it only led her to rant louder.

"… I was the one that brought him in! He's my _friend_ and she won't let me see him! I'm only worried about the brat! Getting himself hurt… I should've hurt him. _Then_ he'd have reason to be here, not because of some stupid ball-"

"Lily!" She looked up into Remus' eyes. "He'll be OK."

"Right… Right. Right! Why am I worrying so much? He'll be fine."

Just then Madam Pomfrey opened the door.

"He'll be all right, right?"

"Yes, Ms. Evans he'll be fine!" She looked at Lily with pure exasperation in her eyes. James wondered what exactly Lily had put her though before they had got there. "The poor boy broke five ribs and punctured a lung, just missed his heart by a few inches. The good news is that I fixed him up and he'll be out of here in a week or so."

"A week?" James interrupted, "We have to practice! Our first match is against Slytherin! They'll crush us if he doesn't practice!"

"Well, that's the bad news Mr. Potter. Because of his injury, he won't be able to play Quidditch anymore. He'll probably never have the same physical stamina that he had before."

James looked like a kid who just found out Santa wasn't real.

Lily looked at the nurse with sad eyes, "Can we see him?"

"I'm sorry, he needs his rest. Come back tomorrow and I'll see what I can do."

"Yes, Ma'am." The boys watched, shocked, as Lily walked away. She was never defeated that quickly. Something was up. They started chasing after her, but lost her somehow.

The next time the five met up was at dinner. They boys had filled Peter in on what had happened and was just as confused at Lily's behavior as the others. She sat down next to Remus and sighed.

"I _hate_ Cane with a wild burning passion. Just because he's head of Slytherin house he thinks that he's _so_ much better than everyone else. I was heading back to Gryffindor Tower and he saw me and goes," She imitated their Potion teacher's low, grumbling voice, "'Evans! What do you think you're doing? Running in the halls-' Which I wasn't, I was walking fast, 'Since you almost made me drop my box, you just volunteered to help.' Do you have any idea what was in those boxes?!" None of the boys answered, because they could tell she was in a bad mood and if they breathed wrong she would attack them. "Frog eyes! He made me separate them, ten to a vile, and there were probably a thousand of those things! He said that if I didn't, he'd give me an even _worse_ detention!"

Sirius was about to comment on how one eye was still in her hair when Dumbledore stood up to make some sort of announcement. "As I'm sure some of you know," He glanced at the Gryffindor table, "Kyle Hall, Gryffindor Beater, had an injury practicing today. Because of the severity of the injury he won't be able to play anymore." Some Gryffindors started to panic, Slytherins just grinned. They'd be sure to win now. "So, Mr. Potter has asked if the team could hold tryouts for the position of Beater. I, of course agreed, and the tryouts will be held on Saturday at noon. Gryffindor fifth years and higher are welcome to tryout. Have a nice lunch." He sat down.

Lily suddenly looked ten times happier, "Hey James, think I have a chance?"

He looked at her to see if she was joking. She wasn't. "Ummm, Lils… I've never really seen you play. So… I don't know." James chose his words carefully, not wanting to get her evil mood back. It didn't work.

"Well, James Matthew Potter," he winced at the use of his full name, "you don't think I can play just because I'm a girl!"

"Lils, sweetie, I didn't say-"

"Don't you 'sweetie' me, Potter! I know what you meant!"

"No, I meant that I've never seen you play so I'm not a good pre-judge."

"Well, James Potter, you'll be in for a big surprise on Saturday!" With that she marched out of the Great Hall, hatred seeming to radiate about her.

James looked at his friends helplessly, "Did I miss part of that conversation or did she overreact?"

"Never try to understand the way of the women, James." Sirius said knowingly.

&%&%&

Why did I blow up at James? He didn't do anything. And he's right, he's never seen me play.

**_Because you were still upset about Cane._**

Old bat.

**_Just apologize to James, he'll understand._**

Someday he won't forgive me. I blow up at people too much.

**_Stubborn._**

_I never said I wouldn't apologize!_

"Hey Lils. Safe to enter Common Room or will you attack us?" Peter smiled at her.

"Hey guys." They all piled into the Gryffindor Common Room. Lily and James still hung out in there a lot. "Hey… About dinner… I'm really sorry. I guess Cane made me more angry than I thought."

"It's okay, Lily-Bean."

"Lily-Bean? Sirius, you're insane."

He just grinned stupidly.

"So, Lils," James ventured, "Were you serious – shut up Sirius – about trying out?"

"Yeah. I've always liked the position. Bet ya didn't even know I have a broom." Her friends raised an eyebrow, "Well, I had better take a shower. I think I still have frog eyes in my hair." With that she bid them good night and went through the portrait to the Prefect dorms.

&%&%&

4:45! ATTENTION! ATTENTION! IT IS 4:45! ATTENTION! ATTEN-

Lily nearly pulverized her poor alarm. _Damn annoying alarm. Got to replace it some day…_ She wiped the sleep from her eyes and stumbled her way into the bathroom she shared with James. She quickly washed her face with cold water and brushed her teeth. She then plaited her hair and went back into her room. She discarded her night clothes – an overlarge shirt and boxers – and pulled on a gray tee shirt that had the sleeves ripped off and some yellow cotton shorts.

She grabbed her broom, a Fly Rite, out of her closet, opened her window, and flew out.

She got to Hagrid's shed at 4:55 and dropped her broom off. She had asked in fifth year if she could keep her broom in there while she did her morning routine, and he had readily agreed.

She went out to the lake and took in a big, deep breath of the cold morning air. She then stretched out her legs and began to jog around the lake. She let her thoughts wander about, never really stopping to ponder on a single one. It was almost like mediation for her, the rhythmic beat of her feet hitting the ground, her breaths and heart beats getting heavier and louder. It took her a little less than an hour to go around the lake twice, and she let herself catch her breath and stretch some more.

By 6:00 she had her broom and was flying on the Quidditch pitch. She took a few laps around the pitch and did a few dives to warm her broom up. She had managed to get a Bludger and she set up her targets – six dummy Quidditch players that floated about in the air. Her goal was to knock all of the dummies out of the air with her Buldger without missing. After having to reset the dummies about six times, she was startled to hear –

&%&%&

James was laying in his bed, trying to get back to sleep. Something, for some reason, had woken him up at – he looked at his clock – 4:45 in the morning! He groaned, pulled his covers over his head, and tried to go back to sleep.

He heard the sink running in the bathroom, and figured Lily had just gotten up to go to the bathroom or something.

He laid in his bed, drifting between sleep and consciousness for about an hour when he decided it was pointless, he wouldn't get back into a good sleep at this rate. So he decided to wake Lily and bug her. It was close to six, he figured she would be getting up soon anyways. 

An hour was soon, right?

He quietly made his way through the bathroom and then threw her bedroom door open and screamed out, "Oi, Lilykins!" He didn't notice any signs of life, and he made his way slowly over to her bed. It was all messy like she had gotten out in a rush and her window was open. James was suddenly frightened.

_Shit! What if that noise that woke you up was somebody kidnapping Lily! Stupid, idiot!_

There has to be a reasonable explanation for this… 

_And that would be…?_

I don't KNOW! Ummm… Get the guys! 

_Yeah!_

With that James ran out of Lily's bedroom, through the Gryffindor Common Room, and into the 6th year's boy dorms.

"Guys! Wake up!" Nobody moved. "Wake! Up!" He threw a pillow from his old bed at Remus, who was usually the easiest to wake up. Nobody moved. "WAKE THE HELL UP YOU LOSERS!" This time James waved his wand around and it shot sparks out of then end that landed on his friends' beds and singed them a bit.

"What the hell was that for?" Came Sirius' groggy reply.

Remus scratched his bedraggled hair, "Yeah, it's six. We don't have to get up for another hour."

"Lily's missing!" This woke everyone up. "I heard something that woke me up and 4:45 and I didn't think it was anything but when I got up a few minutes ago I went into her room and she wasn't there and her bed was all messed up and her window was open and I think she was kidnapped!" He said this all in one breath and took a long breath of oxygen after he was done.

The three boys jumped out of their beds and hastily threw on their robes over their boxers and tee shirts. They ran out of Gryffindor Tower and argued about where to look. It took them about half an hour to get out of the castle – they got lost three times, "We're supposed to be Kings of the Castle and we're _lost_?!?!" Peter had vented – and another fifteen to patrol the grounds.

When they were arguing about whether to look in the Forbidden Forest or go tell Dumbledore when Remus shushed them. The three other boys looked at him, livid, but he just started walking carefully towards the Quidditch Pitch.

James ran to catch up to him and whispered, "What?"

"I smell someone." James wasn't about to question Remus. His werewolf senses came in handy in times like this. Then Remus smiled, and started to laugh.

"What the _hell_ is so funny, Moony? Lily's missing and-"

Sirius interrupted by tapping James on the shoulder and pointing to the air. James went slack-jawed at the sight he certainly wasn't expecting to see.

There, in the air, was the girl in question. She was whacking the big black Bludger towards six dummies, letting them fall to the ground. When all of them had landed, she would summon them back up and start all over again.

Her gray shirt had sweat patches on her chest and below her arms and some loose strands of hair had escaped their braid and were plastered to her forehead.

His joy in finding Lily quickly turned to anger. "LILY EVANS WHAT THE _HELL_ ARE YOU DOING?!?!"

Lily did a 180 and looked at James, not realizing whom the angry voice had belonged to. She realized who it was and dove down to land on the grass. "Christ, James, I could've fallen off my broom." She got her wand and charmed the Bludger back to it's case and the dummies disappeared from the air. "What are you guys doing out here this early?"

"We could ask you the same question, little missy." Sirius looked concerned, but nowhere near the level of James'.

Remus handed her a water bottle she had been searching for, "Why didn't you tell us you were going to practice this morning?"

"Because, I have been since the middle of fifth year. Why should I tell you now, out of the blue?" She took a big gulp of the water, sprayed some onto her face and neck, and then stretched out a sore spot in her back. She laughed at their faces. "Don't worry, you guys weren't supposed to know that I was out here. Otherwise I would've blown up a long time ago. I like coming here and practicing by myself. Besides, tryouts are tomorrow. Now, why are you all here?"

"When I got up, you weren't in your room. I thought you had been kidnapped or something."

Lily looked at James strangely. "You're never up this early."

"Something woke me up."

"Ah. Well, I need to head in and shower, or I'll miss breakfast. I'll see you all later." With that, she mounted her broom and flew up to an open window – her bedroom.

Peter yawned, Remus looked proud of himself, James looked relieved, and Sirius looked ecstatic.

"Did you see the way she handled the Bludger, James? She's better than anyone I've ever seen!" James raised an eyebrow. "Except me, of course." Sirius added quickly, "But she'd give even me a run for my money. We're going to knock Slytherins' smelly socks off next Saturday."

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A/N: So, how was the chapter? I wrote it all last night, so if it's weird, do tell. The next chapter is going to be about the tryouts or something. I also need to get to work on the Halloween Ball/Dance thing. And a major plot-hole I have planned… Now, when to stick it in… Hmmm…

Remember: Be a responsible reader and review!


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